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Happ strikes out six as Blue Jays fall to Orioles

3/10/13: J.A. Happ chats with the Toronto broadcast team about his performance and how keeping the ball down in the zone is key for him

By Gregor Chisholm
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MLB.com |

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Lew Ford hit two doubles while the Orioles scraped together two runs off J.A. Happ to secure a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Field.

Ford sparked the movement that led to Baltimore's first run of the game. With one out in the first, Ford doubled to center and eventually came around to score on an infield grounder by Nolan Reimold.

Baltimore struck again in the second as Taylor Teagarden and Danny Valencia recorded back-to-back doubles to give the Orioles an early 2-0 lead. Those were the only two runs Happ would surrender as he managed to throw 3 2/3 innings while giving up four hits and striking out six.

Happ continues to enjoy a strong spring despite the fact he is expected to begin the year at Triple-A Buffalo. The veteran lefty has now surrendered just four runs on 17 hits with 11 strikeouts over 13 innings of work.

"I thought it was OK," said Happ, who threw 77 pitches Saturday. "I ended up getting into some deep counts, got the pitch count up. I think I tried to take last outing into this outing and combine them into the next one.

"Kind of pitched a little bit differently, worked a little more offspeed today. I paid for it a few times when it wasn't on point, but overall I felt good."

Toronto closer Sergio Santos returned to the mound following a week-long absence with a sore right triceps muscle and threw one scoreless inning. Right-handed setup man Steve Delabar also enjoyed a scoreless inning of work and allowed just one hit.

Right-hander Jake Arrieta enjoyed an impressive outing for the Orioles as he held the Blue Jays scoreless over 4 2/3 innings. He allowed just three hits while walking three and lowering his spring ERA to 2.38.

Infielder Maicer Izturis was one of the lone bright spots on offense for the Blue Jays. He recorded two singles and is now hitting .235 after suffering through a slow start to the Grapefruit League season. Utilityman Mark DeRosa added a sacrifice fly in the sixth and now has seven RBIs this spring.

Up next: Right-hander Brandon Morrow will get the call when Toronto visits the Astros in a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Sunday at Osceola County Stadium on MLB.TV. Morrow is scheduled for five innings of work and is expected to be followed by Brett Cecil, Juan Perez, Claudio Vargas and Justin Germano. Most of the Blue Jays' regulars will receive the day off, but Anthony Gose and Rajai Davis are among those expected to be playing.